The Bisons take on the Rochester Red Wings in a three-game set from Coca-Cola Field. After Rochester, Buffalo will continue this nine-game in eight-day homestand with six contests against the Red Sox.

vs. RED WINGS: The Bisons are 6-5 this season against the Red Wings. The last time the teams met, Buffalo swept two games in Rochester, July 19-20, before Rochester swept two games in Buffalo, July 21-22. Since rejoining the IL in 1998, the Herd is 110-92 (.542) against the Red Wings.

PITCHING PROBABLES: ROCHESTER AT BUFFALO:
Wed. 7:05p: RHP Nick Blackburn (1-0, 1.10) vs. RHP Dillon Gee (12-7, 4.77)
Thur.1:05p: RHP Kyle Gibson (0-0, 1.59) vs. LHP Michael Antonini (1-1, 4.50)
Fri. 7:35p: RHP Matt Fox (6-8, 4.23) vs. LHP Raul Valdes (1-1, 1.88)

I (LOVE) A HIT APARADE–The Red Wings offense has heated up the last seven games batting .306 (70-for-229) as a team. Rochester has 10 or more hits in five of the seven games and has outscored their opponents 40-21 during this seven game stretch.

HOT WINGS – Infielder Matt Tolbert has a 12-game hitting streak batting .347 (17-for-49) with three doubles, one triple, five RBI and four stolen bases. Tolbert had an 11-game hitting streak with Rochester prior to being promoted to Minnesota on June 1. Tolbert re-joined Rochester on Monday (August 16) and extended his hitting streak to 12-games by going 2-for-4… Outfielder Brandon Roberts has a seven-game hitting streak batting .483 (14-for-29) with one double, two triples and six RBI. Roberts has had multi-hits in six of the seven games and has seen his batting average rise from .255 to .342.

CLOSE BUT YET SO FAR–Rochester has played a bunch of close games this season. Rochester has lost six of their last 10 one-run games and six of their last 10 two-run games. Of the 124 games played so far this season 58 (47%) of them have been decided by 1 or 2 runs. Rochester has a 19-22 record in one-run games and an 8-9 record in to-run games.

OH WHAT A RELIEF–The Red Wings bullpen has done a nice job the last 12 games, going 4-2 with three saves and a 2.25 ERA. In 48.0 innings of work, the relievers have allowed just 14 runs (12 earned) on 44 hits while walking just 16 and striking out 48.

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME–The Red Wings have 20 games remaining in the 2010 season (12 road games and 8 games at Frontier Field). Of the 20 games remaining 9 of them are against teams with a losing record (Red Wings have 15-16 record vs. these teams this season). Of the 11 games remaining against teams with a .500 or better record the Red Wings hold just a 9-28 record. Rochester will play 12 of their final 20 games away from Frontier Field.

WHIPLASH–The Red Wings pitching staff has struggled to keep the opposing batters in the ballpark. Rochester has allowed at least one home run in 52 of their last 66 games. The Wings hurlers have allowed 87 home runs in those 66 games.

IN THE RED–Rochester hasn’t spent a day over .500 since June 3, 2009 (26-25 record). In fact, Rochester only spent six days at the .500 mark from June 4 through the end of the 2009 season (92 games).

Looking back at the Bisons & Red Wings series:
7/22/10: ROC 10, BUF 0
GAME RECAP: Bisons blanked in finale

7/21/10: ROC 9, BUF 2
GAME RECAP: Wings best Misch, Bisons for win

7/20/10: BUF 1, ROC 0
GAME RECAP: Ortiz orchestrates a beauty

7/19/10: BUF 6, ROC 2
GAME RECAP: Bisons, Stoner roll to win

7/11/10: ROC 5, BUF 4
GAME RECAP: Ollie, Feliciano & Wings walk-off

7/10/10: BUF 11, ROC 6
GAME RECAP: Huge rally lifts Herd

7/3/10: ROC 1, BUF 0
GAME RECAP: Duda, Bisons blanked

7/2/10: BUF 2, ROC 0
GAME RECAP: Valdes wins duel, Duda homers

4/21: ROC 6, BUF 1
GAME RECAP: Plouffe powers ‘Wings win

4/22: BUF 12, ROC 3
GAME RECAP: Buffalo Pounds Rochester

Buffalo Bisons
65-56, 2nd (-6.0)
RHP Dillon Gee 12-7, 4.77

Rochester Red Wings
47-77, 6th (-25.5)
RHP Nick Blackburn 1-0, 1.10

Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Coca-Cola Field – Buffalo, NY

TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet 13
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

A CHANCE TO WIN 10-GRAND! Cheer on the Bisons and you could pocket $10K by the end of the game. Each inning will feature a chance for the team to accomplish something on the field, such as a grand slam, back-to-back home runs or three assists by the second baseman. If they do, the cash could be yours! MORE: bisons.com

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight the Bisons take on the Rochester Red Wings in the opening game of a three-game set from Coca-Cola Field (7:05 p.m.). The Herd has most recently split a four-game series in Pawtucket, concluding a 5-2 roadtrip. After Rochester, Buffalo will continue this nine-game in eight-day homestand with six contests against the Red Sox.

WILD RACE: The Bisons trail Louisville by three games in the IL Wild Card race, but by only two in the loss column. The Herd has three more games (23) than the Bats left to play with three doubleheaders on its schedule. Louisville is presently in the middle of a four-game series in Syracuse.

vs. RED WINGS: The Bisons are 6-5 this season against the Red Wings. The last time the teams met, Buffalo swept two games in Rochester, July 19-20, before Rochester swept two games in Buffalo, July 21-22. Since rejoining the IL in 1998, the Herd is 110-92 (.542) against the Red Wings.

ALPHABET SOUP: RHP DILLON GEE needs just 2 Ks tonight to set the Bisons’ modern-day record for strikeouts in a single season. The current mark of 137 was set by RHP Vicente Palacios in 1990. Gee currently leads the IL with a 136 strikeouts, seven more than any other pitcher. In two starts against Rochester this season, Gee has fanned 15 Wings batters in only 11.2 innings of work, including a career-high 11 on July 10 at Frontier Field.

CLOSING IN: OF JESUS FELICIANO is currently on a nine-game hit streak. Feliciano has hit .297 (12-41) during the stretch. The outfielder is now hitting .339 as he tries to reach league qualification. With 21 more plate appearances, Feliciano’s average would lead Gwinnett’s INF Barbaro Canizares by three points. Feliciano is hitting .398 (49-123) at Coca-Cola Field this year.

BISONS BITS: The Herd is 36-22 (.621) at home this season…INF JUSTIN TURNER is 5th in IL batting title chase with a .306 average…The Bisons are 32-25 (.561) against IL North opponents this year. Last year, Buffalo was just 29-51 against the North…Since his promotion June 14, OF LUCAS DUDA leads the IL in slugging percentage (.655) by 48 points…Last night, the Mets recalled RHP RYOTA IGARASHI from the Bisons.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (59-60) lost to the Astros, 4-3, last night in Houston. INF DAVID WRIGHT hits his 18th home run of this season to tie the game late, but it wouldn’t be enough. LHP JOHAN SANTANA pitched the complete game and struck out seven in the loss. Former Bison RHP R.A. DICKEY takes the mound tonight as he Mets continue their seven-game roadtrip in Houston (8:05 p.m.).

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The Bisons put an end to their two-game slide when they defeated the Pawtucket Red Sox 5-3 tonight at McCoy Stadium.

The win tonight is the 13th victory for Buffalo in their last 15 games. Over the Bisons eight day venture away from Coca-Cola Field the Herd played extremely well, going 5-2 while having Thursday’s game with Scranton postponed.

Buffalo opened the game up the game in the third inning when Justin Turner scored on a fielder’s choice, putting the Herd up 1-0 early. A Jack Hannahan double in the fourth would then tie the game at one.

Following a Turner single to lead off the sixth inning, Lucas Duda did what he does best and hit a no-doubter home run to give the Bisons a 3-1 lead. Paw Sox starter Fabio Castro tried to sneak a fastball on the inside of Duda and he was able to turn on it and made him pay by sending it out of the ballpark. Duda’s 17th long ball of the year cleared the scoreboard in right field as it was another classic Duda bomb. Duda went 2-5 in tonight’s contest and added two RBI. During his short time in Triple-A the rookie has posted eye-popping numbers. He is hitting .320 for the year and in 54 games with the Herd he has his 17 homers and 52 RBI.

On the bump for the Bisons tonight they received a strong outing from right hander Fernando Nieve. Nieve went 6.2 innings allowing only three runs off of five hits. The starter was cruising for most of the game before he got into a bit of trouble in the seventh.

After getting the first two batters of the inning out, Nieve gave up a single to center field to Lars Anderson. Yamaico Navarro then made the game interesting as he hit a two-run home run to center to put the Paw Sox to within striking distance. Mike O’Connor then relieved the starter and got out of the inning before any more damage was done.

An RBI single from Turner added an insurance run and put the Herd up 5-3 in the ninth. O’Connor then finished out the game by striking out the side in the bottom half of the frame to secure the victory.

The win for the Herd now puts them at 65-56 for the season and with Louisville having an off day today they moved to within 2.5 games of the IL’s lone Wild Card spot.

Buffalo Bisons
64-56, 2nd (-6.5)
RHP Fernando Nieve 1-0, 4.26

Pawtucket Red Sox
53-68, 4th (-18.0)
LHP Fabio Castro (5-7, 4.74)

Monday, August 16, 2010
McCoy Stadium – Pawtucket, RI

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight the Bisons take on the Pawtucket Red Sox in the final game of a four-game set at McCoy Stadium (7:05 p.m.). The Herd needs to win today to earn a split of the four-game series after the PawSox won on Saturday and Sunday. The Bisons are now 4-2 on their seven-game roadtrip that ends tonight. After a day off tomorrow, Buffalo will begin a nine-game in eight-day homestand against Rochester and the PawSox.

WILD RACE: The Bisons trail Louisville by three games in the IL Wild Card race, but by only two in the loss column. The Herd has three more games (24) than the Bats left to play with three doubleheaders on its schedule. Louisville is off today before starting a three-game series in Syracuse on Tuesday.

vs. RED SOX: The Bisons are 5-4 this season against the Red Sox. However, the Herd needs a win today to split the eight games played at McCoy Stadium. If the PawSox win, it would be the second year in a row they went 5-3 against the Herd in Pawtucket. These two teams will face each other six more times in Buffalo next week, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, August 21.

CLOSING IN: OF JESUS FELICIANO extended his hit streak to nine-games yesterday. Feliciano has hit .297 (11-37) during the stretch, which has actually brought his average down. The outfielder is now hitting .341 as he tries to reach league qualification. With 23 more plate appearances, Feliciano’s average would lead Gwinnett’s INF Barbaro Canizares by eight points.

ON THE BUMP: RHP FERNANDO NIEVE will make his fourth start of the year tonight. Nieve earned his first Bisons victory of the season on Wednesday when he yielded just four runs in six innings in a 10-4 victory in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Combined with 2009, Nieve is now 4-0 with a 3.89ERA in seven career starts in a Bisons uniform.

BISONS BITS: INF JUSTIN TURNER is hitting .304 this season. That’s good for 7th best in the IL…RHP RYOTA IGARASHI has made five consecutive scoreless appearances out of the Bisons bullpen, spanning 5.2 innings…The Bisons currently have just one pitcher, RHP DILLON GEE (24GS), on their active roster who has started more than three games this season for Buffalo.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (58-59) lost to the Phillies, 3-1, last night from Citi Field. INF JOSE REYES accounted for New York’s lone run with a solo home run off the right field foul pole. RHP MIKE PELFREY allowed three runs in seven innings to see his record fall to 11-7 on the year. The Mets will start a seven-game roadtrip tonight with the first game of a four-game series in Houston (8:05 p.m.).

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The Bisons lost their second straight game on Sunday afternoon, 3-1 in Pawtucket against the PawSox, following their season long eight-game winning streak.

In a game where offense was hard to find, the Sox were able to find the necessary runs for the win all in fifth inning.

The Bisons struck first in the fourth frame, taking a 1-0 lead on a Valentino Pascucci solo home run, his 14th of the year.

However, the PawSox came roaring back in the fifth. After a one out walk to Jack Hannahan, he came in to score on a RBI double by Gustavo Molina to tie the game at one.

After Bubba Bell grounded out for the second out of the inning, the Bisons took out starter Raul Valdes and replaced him with Jose De La Torre. The right-handed reliever then served up a two-run homer to the very first batter he faced, Gil Velazquez, to give the PawSox a 3-1 lead. They would hold that lead to pick up the win.

In his fifth start of the year with Buffalo, Valdes tossed 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on just one hit. He suffered his first loss as a Bisons starter this year.

The Bisons will try to get the series split tomorrow night in the series finale in Pawtucket with a 7:05 p.m. start time. Following the contest, Buffalo will travel back home to Coca-Cola Field for an eight-day, nine-game home stand beginning Wednesday.

BISONS NOTES: Lucas Duda saw his 11-game hitting streak come to an end, going 0x4 with fours strikeouts…The Bisons offense has struggled over the last two games, both losses, going 0x13 with runners in scoring position…The top five batters in the Bisons lineup went 1×18 with six strikeouts…The PawSox scored their three runs on just two hits, both in that three-run fifth frame.